


Would You Like To Dance?

by SilverMoonSky



Series: Ladrien June 2020 [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Flustered Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Flustered Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Ladrien June, Ladrien June 2020, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Is Over Adrien Agreste, Post-Episode: s03 Miracle Queen (The Battle of the Miraculous Part 2), Post-Season/Series 03, Slow Dancing, well at least she wants to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:07:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24656578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMoonSky/pseuds/SilverMoonSky
Summary: Ladybug's eyes flitted to Adrien—who was slowly turning into a statue the longer he stood still—then to the bangle resting on Étiquette’s hand, where the akuma must be. And finally, to finish it off, down at the lucky charm she was holding.She smiled. She had a plan.Ignoring the thumping in her heart, ignoring her brain telling her not to do anything that could potentially ruin all the healing she’d been doing these past couple of weeks, Ladybug held out a hand to Adrien and asked him a single question.“Would you like to dance?”Written for Day 8: Slow dance for Ladrien June.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Ladrien June 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770316
Comments: 4
Kudos: 52





	Would You Like To Dance?

**Author's Note:**

> Just to be clear, Adrien doesn't have a girlfriend in this fic. Marinette continuously mentions that Adrien's girlfriend is Kagami, but that's because she jumps to conclusions and doesn't bother to ask him.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy this oneshot! :)

When the akuma alert rang, the first thing Ladybug realized—despite her brain screaming at her to not—was that the victim had been akumatized at an event Adrien was attending. And although yes, she was over Adrien Agreste and no, he most definitely did not make her heart race anymore, she couldn’t help but agonize over it. What if the akuma had got him? What if he was hurt? What if she was too late and something had happened and she couldn’t save him?

_ You  _ don’t _ feel that way about him anymore, Marinette! Snap out of it! _

But old habits die hard. It had been several weeks since she resolved to move on from the boy of her dreams. She was getting there, slowly and steadily, yet there were certain instances where all that progress went out the window, when all the emotions came back and she couldn’t stop herself from falling in the same downward spiral she’d fallen victim to since the moment he’d given her that umbrella.

In other words, moments such as right now.

Ladybug was at the scene of the akuma at almost record time. The akuma’s name was Étiquette, and she was wreaking havoc at the Grand Paris hotel, where the fashion event had been taking place. Ladybug swung into one of their massive ballrooms to see most of the guests shrouded in a weird, yellow glow. Some of them were moving across the floor, dancing with partners as soft instrumental music filled the air, while some were still as if they’d been frozen in place. Étiquette herself was perched on a balcony that overlooked the room. She watched the guests and occasionally fired beams at them, but for the most part the atmosphere seemed quite calm and tranquil. One glance around the room told Ladybug that her partner wasn’t here yet.

“Ladybug,” Étiquette hissed as soon as she’d spotted her. “Nice of you to finally join us.”

Ladybug surveyed the area around her warily, keeping one eye on the akuma as she moved into the middle of the ballroom. From what she could see, all the guests were fully conscious; it was as though their bodies were moving of their own accord, and if they refused to, they were frozen in place. Just like what had happened with Frightinggale.

“Care to tell me why you’ve got everyone dancing?”

“No one understands proper etiquette,” the akuma spat, rising to her feet. “The boy I wanted to dance with refused my offer! You’re not  _ supposed _ to refuse when a girl asks you to dance!”

“I’m sure he had his reasons,” Ladybug said. She started drawing out her yoyo.

Étiquette floated down to the ballroom and fixed her eyes on a statue of what seemed to be a teenage boy. Ladybug’s heart raced. Was it Adrien? Was Adrien the one that rejected her because he already had a girlfriend? That would make sense, because honestly, who  _ wouldn’t  _ reject someone else for Kagami? Kagami was amazing and wonderful and would be a better girlfriend to Adrien than Marinette could ever hope to be—

“He said I should stop following him like a lost puppy and get over him,” the akuma growled.

Okay, not Adrien then. Adrien wasn’t one to ever flat-out reject someone like that; he was too nice, kind, sweet, handsome—

Her brain screamed at her to  _ stop thinking about him! _

“Well,” Ladybug said, “maybe he has a point?”

Étiquette’s eyes narrowed, and that was when Ladybug knew she was screwed. The next thing she knew, she was dodging beam after beam as she darted around the dancing guests. It was hard; she found herself biting back apologizes each time she accidentally knocked into someone, or every time she tripped over her own feet. This environment reminded her way too much of the last time she’d been at a fancy event like this one. (And needless to say, that movie premiere had  _ not  _ been her finest moment.)

Ugh, where was Chat Noir when she needed him?

“I’m going to make you dance Ladybug, even if it’s the last thing I do!”

“We’ll see about that,” she muttered under her breath. She swiveled around more guests, looking for a way to avoid getting hit by the akuma’s rays. She managed to duck behind a table when Étiquette wasn’t looking. It allowed her to take a quick breather and rethink her strategy. It didn’t seem as though Chat Noir was going to be showing up anytime soon. Étiquette wasn’t about to let her go, so she’d have to confront her head-on and try to not to get hit. Easier said than done, but perhaps if she had a little bit of luck on her side. . . .

“Lucky charm,” she whispered as soft as she could in order to not draw attention to herself. Her yoyo flew up into the air, and seconds later it came down with a spotted red and black bracelet. She bit her lip and started looking around the room, thinking about what to do with it.

But wait a minute. Why did the bracelet the lucky charm had given her look awfully familiar to the one that she’d given Adrien all that time ago?

“Ladybug, look out!”

Lost in thought, Ladybug barely looked up just in time to see someone barrel into her side. The next thing she knew, she’d rolled several feet away from the table, and the same person that had bumped into her looked down at her with wide eyes. Very  _ familiar _ green eyes.

“Adrien?” she gasped. “What—”

“My bodyguard was trying to get me away from here when I saw the ray about to hit you,” Adrien said, a blush filling his cheeks as he quickly shuffled off of her. “And now it looks like we both got hit.”

“Y-yeah,” she stammered. She looked down to see herself and Adrien surrounded by the same yellow glow as everyone else.

Great. Just great. Of all the people surrounding her, she just  _ had _ to get stuck with  _ Adrien _ , also known as the boy she was desperately trying to get over. And it didn’t help that he was looking at her with concern, wearing that sharp suit with a green tie that perfectly complimented his eyes, and with his hair carefully styled back like the model he was.

_ You’re Ladybug right now, act professional! You’re not clumsy Marinette, you’re Paris’s superhero! So act like it! _

Instead her mind refused to form coherent sentences, and all Ladybug could do was simply gape at the boy in front of her.

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked.

“Fine!” she squeaked, her face as red as her suit. “Fine, just fine.”

Adrien has most definitely noticed the color on her cheeks, but he didn’t comment on it. He got to his feet. “So um, what now?”

“Oh look, I’ve finally gotten Ladybug!” Étiquette floated towards them with a wide smile etched on her face. She began to say in a sing-songy voice, “you better want to start dancing soon, before you get turned into a statue!”

Ladybug shuffled to her feet and glanced warily at the akuma, but she was right. She could feel her limbs starting to stiffen. Her eyes flitted to Adrien—who was slowly turning into a statue the longer he stood still—then to the bangle resting on Étiquette’s hand, where the akuma must be. And finally, to finish it off, down at the lucky charm she was holding.

She smiled. She had a plan.

Ignoring the thumping in her heart, ignoring her brain telling her not to do anything that could potentially ruin all the healing she’d been doing these past couple of weeks, Ladybug held out a hand to Adrien and asked him a single question.  
“Would you like to dance?”

He blinked at her with surprise, but put his hand in hers nonetheless. He blushed as she pulled him closer. Instantly the stiffness in their bodies ceased as they started to shuffle their feet.

Hawk Moth’s butterfly symbol appeared on Étiquette’s face, and she scowled. “I’ll grab Ladybug’s Miraculous  _ after _ she wears herself out dancing,” she declared as she talked to Hawk Moth. “It’s only a matter of time before she realizes it’s not worth it to dance with guys.”

They glided across the dance floor, Adrien’s hands on her waist, with hers resting on his shoulders. Identical blushes were on both of their faces. The soft music filtered through the air like a gentle breeze, soothing enough to lull them to sleep, and as they danced, Ladybug became more and more aware of the situation. Here she was, slow dancing with her former crush, who technically had a girlfriend and most certainly did not have feelings for her. On top of that,  _ she’d  _ been the one to pull him into this. All because she’d needed a dance partner in order for her lucky charm to work and he’d happened to be the only one available.

Honestly, Ladybug wasn’t even sure  _ when _ she was going to get over Adrien at this point; it obviously couldn’t happen when he kept popping out of nowhere and saving her and then she had no choice but to use him in her plan—

Her earrings beeped, signifying only four minutes before she transformed back.

“Uh, Ladybug?” Adrien asked. They were still dancing. “So what are we supposed to do?”

_ Focus on the akuma! Don’t focus on him. Not right now. And definitely not when the akuma could still grab your Miraculous. _

“I have a plan,” Ladybug told him, turning on her “professional” mind. She could scream about this in her room later. Instead, she showed him her lucky charm. “Does this look familiar?”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “That looks like the bracelet Marinette gave me.”

“Do you have it with you right now?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. “Here.”

Ladybug took the charm bracelet from him and looked around the room to where Étiquette was. She glanced at the two bracelets in her hand, an idea quickly coming to mind.

“We need to dance back towards Étiquette,” Ladybug said, putting her arms back around Adrien’s neck. “And to make this work, we need to be closer. I-if you don’t mind, that is!” she added hastily. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, so if you don’t want to, that’s completely okay. . . .”

Adrien’s arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her close enough so that his chin rested on her shoulder. “Like this?”

“Y-yeah,” she said, glad her blushing face was out of his sight. They were as close as they’d been back when they’d danced together at Chloé’s party. “Just like that. Now we need to move towards her.”

As the music continued to float through the atmosphere, the two of them slowly shuffled towards where the akuma was. From where her arms were around Adrien’s neck, Ladybug started to tie together her lucky charm and the charm bracelet she’d given him. It would damage the bracelet, but her Miraculous Ladybugs would fix that.

The butterfly symbol continuously seemed to appear over Étiquette's face, but all she did was scowl and it disappeared, watching over the ballroom of guests with a contented sigh. Ladybug had to admit that this was one of the calmest akumas she’d ever faced.

Her earrings ran with another telltale beep, letting her know she only had three more minutes.

“I need you to go ask her to dance,” Ladybug whispered as they drew closer.

Adrien gaped at her. “What?”

“Just trust me,” she said. “It'll be fine.”

Ladybug quickly spun away from him before he could protest. Adrien called after her, but she simply shook her head and gestured for him to go after Étiquette.

She twirled around the room. Ladybug was far from a graceful dancer, but she tried her best as she stayed within vicinity of the akuma. Her limbs were starting to stiffen again; despite the fact that she was technically still dancing, it seemed as though the akuma’s magic only worked if you were dancing with a partner. As Adrien reached his hand towards Étiquette to ask her to dance, she quietly willed for the fight to be over soon.

Another beep. Two more minutes.

Étiquette's eyes widened in surprise, and yet again the butterfly symbol appeared over her face. Once again Étiquette scowled. The purple outline disappeared as quickly as it came, and she accepted Adrien’s offer.

Ladybug smirked. She was sure Hawk Moth was regretting his choice of akuma that night.

Adrien’s arms were now around Étiquette's waist, with her arms around his neck. He led her towards the dance floor and cast a questioning glance at Ladybug. She kept a respective distance from the two, gesturing for him to bring her closer.

He blanched, but did as she instructed. Ladybug felt her limbs getting even stiffer. She glided across the dance floor towards them when Étiquette's back was to her. The music in the room instantly seemed to get slightly more ominous, as if sensing what was about to happen. She stopped several feet away from them, gesturing for Adrien to spin her around.

He did. As swift as she could, Ladybug darted forward and grabbed Étiquette's free hand while she pivoted in a circle. The akuma victim gasped in shock, but it was too late. Ladybug twisted the arm behind her back, and using the conjoined bracelets as handcuffs of the sort, she brought together Étiquette's other flailing arm, binding them together with the bracelets. Ladybug carefully slid off the bangle and broke it in half to release the akuma.

Another beep. Only a minute left.

The purple butterfly fluttered out. She purified it, then called out her Miraculous cure. It instantly swept across the ballroom, and everyone that had been frozen or dancing were soon returned to normal.

“Thank you for your help,” Ladybug said to Adrien, pecking a quick kiss to his cheek. “Can I trust you to take care of her?” She gestured at the akuma victim.

“S-sure,” Adrien said, a blush spreading across his cheeks. “You go ahead.”

With that, she jumped out of the Grand Paris with barely a minute on her earrings left. It was enough time for her to swing into her bedroom and flop face-down on her bed as her transformation wore out. Her “professional” mindset broke. And now that the fate of the world wasn’t hanging on her shoulders anymore, Marinette promptly screamed into her pillow.

It would be a  _ long _ time before she could safely say she was over Adrien Agreste.


End file.
